Mike Richards could spell trouble for Canucks

Mike Richards could spell trouble for Vancouver Canucks

When we last noticed Mike Richards in Vancouver, he had an Olympic gold medal around his neck and a halo above his head as one of the next great stars in Canadian hockey.

Come to think of it, 2010 was the last time anyone really noticed Richards for anything other than his surprising trade last June from the Philadelphia Flyers and the embarrassing stories that Richards and teammate Jeff Carter had partied as hard as they played and their exit was a cleansing by the National Hockey League team.

Richards, a Selke Trophy runner-up three years ago when he had 80 points and was regarded as one of the best two-way centres in the game, managed just 44 points this season with the Los Angeles Kings and went 25 games without scoring during one second-half stretch.

“It’s not so much the points, but the edge he brings to the game,” Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown explained Thursday. “He can hurt you offensively, he’s really good defensively and he can play mind games with some of your top players.”

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We’re not sure about the wisdom of getting inside the head of Vancouver Canucks centre Ryan Kesler, but the game Richards played in Wednesday’s Stanley Cup playoff opener at Rogers Arena looked lifted from the Olympic tournament in the same building 26 months ago.

Earlier this season, as Kesler struggled to find his form after off-season hip surgery, the Canucks said he needed to be “vintage Kes.” We just saw vintage Richards and that is troubling for the Canucks.

Richards matched a season-high by registering three points in the 4-2 win and he led the Kings with four hits, capped by a slobber-knocker on Alex Burrows in the final minute of regulation time when Vancouver was pushing for a tying goal and probably not expecting Richards to close on someone like an anvil on Wile E. Coyote.

It was a virtuoso performance for which the Canucks had no answer.

Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault was still looking for one Thursday, saying of the Kesler-Richards matchup: “I’m not sure I like that matchup. I’m going to think about that.

“[Wednesday] night’s game, [Richards] was a force on the ice and we’re going to need to do a better job. He made some solid plays with the puck and he was real physical in certain areas of the ice. We’re going to need to address that.”

Think about this for a moment: Kesler’s coach is considering moving his Selke Trophy winner — in theory, the best checking forward in the NHL — away from Richards.

Kesler wasn’t exactly a bystander Wednesday, collecting assists on both Vancouver goals and crushing Jarret Stoll with a hit nearly as fierce as Richards’ bomb on Burrows. But Richards was the best player on either team.

He was drafted 24th in 2003, one spot after the Canucks took Kesler. They clashed at the Olympics, when Kesler was about the best player on the U.S. team, and they clashed Wednesday. And now Vigneault is considering something else for Game 2 on Friday night.

“Out here in the West, Mike hasn’t seen a lot of Kesler and I think he’s trying to familiarize himself with the matchup,” Kings winger Dustin Penner said. “That’s a little more kindling for the fire.

“[Mike is] a playoff performer, an Olympian, a gold medallist. He has played world juniors. He has played at a high level at every level he has been at. Playoffs are the time when guys like him step up his game. I’m not surprised at all.”

But the Canucks may be, at least a little.

Kesler shut down Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews, another Canadian Olympic hero and elite two-way centre, in the first round last year. It would be helpful if he could do the same against Richards, reunited in Los Angeles with Carter.

Vigneault wants Sammy Pahlsson’s checking line against the Kings’ Anze Kopitar, Brown and Justin Williams. And the Canucks like their chances if they can get Henrik Sedin’s top line against Los Angeles’ third unit, centred by Stoll.

But after Game 1, it’s advantage Richards and advantage Kings.

“Ryan’s a great player; he plays the game hard,” Richards said. “You have to be prepared to play hard against him. It was just one game … This is a marathon. It was nice to have a game like that [Wednesday] night, but you’re only as good as your last game.”

Kesler, Burrows and most of Vancouver’s other top players were not made available to the media because of an optional practice.

“He’s going to hit me, so you’re better off trying to get a lick on him,” Richards said of his hit. “It’s playoff hockey. This is why we play. It’s fun, it’s heated, the crowd was electric … It’s just a good time to play hockey and you want to play the game hard.”

Richards had a swagger not often seen this season in Los Angeles, where at times he seemed subdued in the wake of his trade.

“People say it’s new season now,” Penner said. “It’s a defining moment when you get to this position, and you can either go one of two ways. He’s one of those guys that elevates his game.”

Said Brown: “I think it speaks to the type of player Richards is and the effect he can have not only on our team, but the opposing team’s top players. That’s why we traded for Mike in the first place. He’s just not a fun guy to play against.”